Into Africa
Our remarkable journey to serve the Lord and our fellowman in the Ghana Cape Coast Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014
The rest of January
Like I said on the last post I am way behind in what has been happening. So here is the rest of January in no particular order
Sister Sam showing the group how to fold up your fabric before the dying is done
This is the Wallace's Primary School. We mentioned that we had helped get the new building ready for the kids to return in early January. This was the first day back, and it took a week before all of the kids had returned. It appears lots of parents and kids believe they always need a little more vacation time. It also saves them money because they pay on a daily basis.
The kids are checking out the new class room. There will be twenty to thirty kids in this classroom
With the school they have to send a bus around to pick up and deliver kids.
Sister Ivie restocking on eggs at a local store just down the street from our house.
This casket represents the scriptures
This a coco pod for a local farmer, and as you can see they also have the regular caskets. There are wood shops everywhere that build caskets. I saw a regular casket with windows in the sides, I wonder what that was meant for. The funerals are one of the biggest events that take place in a village. Sometimes they wait for up to six months after the person has past away. This is necessary to have time to earn or borrow enough money . The family pays for the celebration and provides all of the food and drink for all that attend.(and everyone comes out of the woodworks) They put up big awning tents, truck loads of plastic chairs, and sleeping mats are brought in. They have a massive sounds system to play music and have speeches given. This goes on from two to three days 24-7.
This is the new washroom being built for the church buildings at Asikuma.
Down by the Castle you cross over a waterway where all of the fishing boat come and go. They are very colorful and wide variety of sizes and styles
We had a try zone conference, and these Elders and Sisters were getting their birthday treats from President Shulz.
President Shulz and his Assistants Elder Brown and Elder Dekane
Happy Missionaries
We were able to use the seminary building for the conference. It is air conditioned and makes for a much nicer meeting.
Sister Ivie doing a little window shopping at a roadside market.
The Julanders are the couple that replaced the Bybee's. They are from Hooper, Utah and have been friends with President and Sister Shulz before coming on their mission. We were together getting ready to go to Prozo to prepare the living quarters for another new couple coming to the Cape Coast Mission. We went for two days to clean and put away all of the kitchen items, check and make sure the A/C, the generator, and the water pump were in working order. Good thing we did because we were busy fixing them. We had to trim several doors that were dragging on the floor. The wood here is very hard and when you put a screw in for a hinge it typically will not come back out. So we had to trim the doors hanging in their frames. Even with all that we did, the Schiffman's still had a few challenges once they arrived
Sister Ivie shopping for some vegetables
This is the Schiffman's house in Prozo. It is very nice and very quiet area of town. Elder Schiffman also has a storage shed which I covet.
While we were in Prozo, President and Sister Shulz went to Accra to pick up the new couple. They are on the right side top. They are also from Hooper, Utah. Elder Schiffman was the Shulz's bishop when they left for this mission. All of the couple in the mission were there to share in their first dinner in Ghana.
On Monday Elder Lelea The Winneba District Leader arranged to do a tie dying activity with one of the member of the branch, Sister Sam
Elder Jensen
Sister Sam's daughter leaving with a box of spring rolls she will be selling at their stand out on the street. She has made spring rolls for several of the district activities and they are goods.
Here she is mixing the dye and explaining how to dip the fabric
Very interesting designs appear
This was my attempt, In the next blog I will show you the shirt I had made out of this fabric. Really quiet cool
After the dying you stretch the material out on the ground and let it dry. You then rinse it and let it dry again.
Sister Ivie could not resist taking this lady's picture. These people just love President Obama We suggested we would be happy to loan him to Africa permanently
This is my first Ghanian shirt. The Winneba Branch President is a taylor. He made this shirt for me, and is making another shirt for my out of the material I dyed.
This is the day we arrived with some of the materials many of you sent to us for the different schools we are working with. These are a very special kids and they are so into any new experience. This is the deaf school at Asikuma
They love to have their picture taken. In the background is our missionary apartment in Asikuma.
There were toys, puzzles, books, and games for these kids to have a good time learning. Almost all of the items were a new experience for them.
This is sister Atata. She is the cook for the deaf kids breakfast and lunch. We will be getting her a propane stove this next trip out to the school. She thinks it will be a really cool thing, and not have to put up with the wood smoke and mess.
Sister Ivie practicing her sign language skills much to the enjoyment of the kids and the teachers.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2014
Well it is back to work
After the New Year celebrating was finished it was back to being very busy. And in as much as all of January has passed and I have not posted, I apologize. I had some trouble with my pictures which I lost all of them and then they are not in correct order this time. I will just ramble with the pictures to get caught up and then repent.
We had a zone activity day where we all traveled to Cape Coast and toured the Elmina castle. This is one of the castles that was used to hold slaves before they were sold and shipped around the globe. It was a sobering experience to see and hear of the stories of those dark days in history.
This is a picture of one of the class at the Deaf School we are working with. This is one of the puzzles that was sent to California and then brought to Ghana in Brother Lybberts suitcase. Neither the teachers or the students had ever seen anything like a puzzle. It took a little while to put it back together and were so excited to see the picture when they did. As you can see they were very involved in solving the challenge. We will have more on this school in the next blog.
In Africa funerals are a very important event. You can have your casket made in any kind of shape that you would like, usually something that represented your life's work. This is an outboard motor. I have seen it finish and I need to stop and take another picture/
This is a small taxi car at the same shop
This is Elder Adams, Elder Collins, and Elder Lodder returning to the trotro area after leaving the Castle
Elder and Sister Ivie at the entrance to the Castle
I liked this casket, he must have been a builder or was trying to send a message of the kinda of mansions he wanted in heaven. Can you imagine the size of the hole some of these require to be buried
This is a Bic pen
A nice flip flop, which is the standard shoe worn by most everyone doing what ever kind of job you can imagine. I am collecting picture of the different styles we see as we drive around the area. I still need a picture of the ship, the scriptures, the CoCo Bean to name a few that we have seen and need to take pictures of
This is the Swedru Zone, there are six Sisters and sixteen Elders. We are sitting on one of the stair cases inside the Castle. They are so enjoyable to be around, whether it is playing or doing serious missionary activities.
This is in center court yard. The barred doors on the right were two cells. One no one left alive, and the other no one died while in the cell. If you were a leader or rebellious you got the cell that no left alive. They simply put you in, and gave no water or food until you died.
We have been very busy getting a new apartment ready for missionaries in a new area. This is Elder Harris,(going home next transfer), Elder Brown who has had two transfers, and Elder Ivie painting the floor. Just can't get away from some kind of floor covering.
I have mentioned before that there are very few car lifts in the out lying areas. So when you need to work on the underside of the car, you just roll it up on its side and do your repairs. It only causes minor damage to the body, but sure makes working on the bottom easier.
We do enjoy traveling through out our area, because everyday is an adventure.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 2014
New Years in Ghana
Christmas time is Ghana is definitely different. Almost no traditional christmas decorations, gift giving, etc. But come the New Years Celebrating that is a different story. We are now approached by many strangers asking for their christmas gift. They want money or something, and it has nothing to with christmas.
The fancy costumes come out, and the parade's through town are everywhere.
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| From little kids to grown adults the costumes are elaborate and some very costly. They only use the costume once and then sell it or give it away. |
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| He is part of a large parade that went past our home. I am having trouble with the download of the video. Someday maybe I will get this blog stuff figured out |
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| This mask is very tame compared to many that have approached our car. The first ones we were not sure if we were really safe. They approach everyone and want money. Some even carry a cane stick. They all assure us they don't use them.(at least on obruni) Not the case with there own people. It is Halloween on steroids |
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| A couple of cross dresser's |
The last sunday of the month produced a number of baptisms. The zone exceeded their trimester goals and the mission meets it goal for the year. Always a good indicator that the work is progressing
Behind me is the baptismal font
After the first baptisms we were off to the other chapel in Swedru for another nice service. This was a special time because three of these Elders were going to be in the transfer on Monday. Great way to finish your assignment in any given area.
Sister Bybee was feeling a little better, but said she did not want to miss this opportunity to be with all of the couples one last time before there return to the US
This is the new apartment in Asikuma that we have been working on for several weeks. It had to be painted inside and out as well as the floors. We made several trips to the mission home to pick up the furniture and supplies the Elders will be needing. We have two missionaries assigned this transfer and two more will join them the first week of February
When we found the Elders apartment the landlord had these two school building he wanted to rent and currently we meeting in school across town. Long story short the Church representative Bro Manube was able to secure the buildings. The owner had to make them tenantable. He had to pour concrete in part of the building, plaster and paint the walls, install windows and doors. Then the Church will come in and pay for the remodeling necessary to make it Church Standard. Asikuma is a new Branch and is growing very nicely. They have a great spirit about them and being members of the Church is very important.
This is one of the schools Sister Ivie has been talking about. This is the new one the Wallace were fixings to able to relieve the other building. It got new paint inside and out, a new wash room that isn't really a wash room. Today just a small number of kids returned to school, by next week everybody will have figured out vacation is over and you have to go back to school. It is something that happens a lot in the private schools.
I missed getting pictures of this building before work begin. You would not believe the transformation that took place in just over a weeks time.
These are the brand new desks for the extra classrooms. There are fifteen new desks and that will serve 30 kids. The carpenter charged 7 Cedis, that is 3.50 US per desk for his labor.
I left Sister Ivie at school one day with Sister Wallace while I took President Wallace (our electrician) out to Odoben and Asikuma to make some repairs. She and Sister Wallace went with the kids in their school bus as there were taken home. Then the two of them went to the Chapel and had a piano lesson, until we returned. She said the ride was not quiet like a trotro but close.
Sister Ivie making a quick stop at the grocery store. It is nice to have these little stores all over town and especially this one that is a block from home. There is a vegetable market next to this store and it is nice to not have to go down to the main market.
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